Introduction

In recent years, Central Eastern Europe (CEE) has emerged as a vibrant and dynamic player in the European startup ecosystem. CEE is home to 8k+ funded startups including over 45 unicorns and 40+ future unicorns. Central Eastern Europe includes the following list of countries: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine.

Venture Capital

Venture Capital investment across CEE reached over $6.3B in 2022, its second best year on record. While this is a small 3% drop from the peaks of 2021, it is still 2x larger than 2020.

By stage

Early stage Access early-stage funding rounds into CEE startups here on the Dealroom platform. Breakout stage Access breakout-stage funding rounds into CEE startups here on the Dealroom platform. Scaleup stage Access scaleup-stage funding rounds into CEE startups here on the Dealroom platform.

By city

Tallinn, Zagreb and Prague are the cities within CEE that have raised the most capital.

By industry

The top three Central Eastern European industries for VC investment raised in 2022 were Transportation, Fintech, and Foodtech, which combined accounted for 70% of total VC investment across the region. The leading sub-industries in CEE receiving the most VC investment include food logistics & delivery, logistics & delivery and vehicle production. Explore VC investment funding by sub-industry here on the platform.

Sources of capital

Early stage funding rounds primarily come from domestic and other European sources, however later stage funding tends to come from overseas investors. Explore this investment data here on the Dealroom platform.

Unicorns

The CEE startup ecosystem has minted 46 unicorns and 40+ future unicorns. After the peak in new unicorn creation in 2021, the creation of both new unicorn and future unicorns has slowed down significantly, signalling that new unicorns are once again becoming rare beasts. Discover these CEE unicorns in this interactive Dealroom landscape below (link)

Investors

Explore the data for the most active investors into CEE startups as well as the most active CEE based investors here on the Dealroom platform.

Related Content

Guides: Baltics startup ecosystem guide Reports: CEE startup ecosystem report 2022 Reports: Browse all CEE region ecosystem reports on Dealroom Dealroom Data: Explore all the funded CEE startups and scaleups